A World Without Frost
by Mysterie1985
Summary: [ONESHOT] Just as Jack was too late to save Sandy from Pitch's arrow, Sandy's whips were too late to save Jack... [I rewrote this after being unsatisfied with its original version]


They had all seen it happen, but none of them could believe it. It was like a waking nightmare as Pitch's scythe had come down and none of them had been able to stop it. Even the revived Sandy had been just a fraction of a moment too late. So much blood... They knew it would scar the children for life, having seen such a thing. The children would be okay after a while. Well, most of them would but one boy in particular...

The four Guardians stood at the edge of the ice, Bunny held a sleeping Sophie who had cried herself to sleep without really knowing the reason why. Only knowing that she was crying because her brother had been. The Last Light... The boy who had saved them all, Jamie Bennett. He stood in the middle of the frozen pond, heedless of the possible danger now that the young Guardian was gone. He had taken this the hardest, kneeling on the ice and pounding his fists into it hadn't even scratched the surface of the frozen ice. Jack had done that much before... Before the battle that had not turned out the way it should have; he'd made sure his pond was too frozen for anyone to ever fall in.

Bunny stood, ears drooped as he mourned the loss of their young comrade who had never taken the oath. Jack had almost scoffed at the idea of being a Guardian, had even argued with Bunny toe-to-toe but the tough Easter Spirit found himself trying hard not to cry while the young children who were gathered around North and Tooth had red eyes. The girls were silent in their tears as they clung to Tooth while the boys seemed to rage at the injustice of it all. It wasn't fair... Jack had done everything to bring back the believers so that the Guardians could fight and take down Pitch. The Boogeyman had paid for what he'd done... but it wasn't enough. Bunny felt anger stir deep beneath his anguish at the loss of a spirit he'd so sorely misunderstood and had underestimated.

In the end... Jack had proven himself to be a true Guardian... Even without being sworn by the oath, he had protected Jamie and the others, despite that they had all but completely ignored him for his 300 years... He'd been loyal, fierce, and true... something the rabbit had understood too late. He could never take back the biting words he'd said to Jack just days ago. Blaming the winter spirit for the loss of Easter when it really hadn't been his fault... It had been Pitch. Bunny knew better... Jack would never have gone over to side with the Boogeyman, they'd all known that but the loss had been so huge a blow and he'd been so easy to blame...

Tooth's eyes were just as red. She'd idolized Jack, heck, she'd had a crush on him for as long as any of them had ever known and now... Now she would never know if she could have had something wonderful, something so few spirits like them ever had the opportunity to. Pitch had stolen that opportunity from her. Her usually brilliant colors had dulled and her fairies, whom she had usually a few hanging about her, were no where to be found.

Sandy moved among the children, putting them to sleep one by one. His golden eyes sad even as he did so; the children would bounce back from this, he knew... given time. Even the Last Light would eventually grow up and forget... if not entirely. In the brief time that they had been together... Jamie had put a lot of trust in Jack, had become so close to the young Guardian. Sandy wished he could cry, but he could not as he put the girls to sleep and Tooth's fairies arrived to help cart the girls off to their rooms. He moved over to the boys. North's eyes were bright with tears the older Guardian had not shed. He was being strong for the three boys who had stuck close to him.

Only Jamie didn't take any comfort in any of the Guardians and when he saw Sandy move towards him, he'd scrambled away and so Sandy had left him alone. One by one the Guardians had left, but Jamie had remained and so had Tooth and Sandy. Of the Guardians, they had been the closest to Jack just as Jamie had been. When the sun rose over the ice, it sparkled beautifully but the snow that began to fall then lacked the joy and personal touch of a certain winter spirit and would never know that touch again.

In the end, Tooth left the two alone as she went back to her palace. There were still teeth to collect, still things to do and if she didn't wander out of her palace for the next fifty years or so no one would blame her. No one would notice really that the snow seemed sad and lost, much like the boy Sandy would spend the rest of the boy's life looking after. No one would notice that the fairies who did their jobs were not as cheerful, nor the toys that North would make would be quite as wonderful... and if the colors on painted Easter eggs for the next few years seemed subdued, no one took notice or complained. Sandy made sure, however, that no one forgot Jack. Weaving what he knew of the winter spirit into the dreams of children for generations to come.

The world would never forget what had happened that night or the bravery of one Jack Frost.


End file.
